I highly recommend the series by Steven Erikson called The Malazan Book of the Fallen. Its a ten book series starting off with Gardens of the Moon. If you enjoy A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones) and The Lord of the Rings then you'll enjoy Gardens of the Moon.

FullMetalMonkey wrote:I highly recommend the series by Steven Erikson called The Malazan Book of the Fallen. Its a ten book series starting off with Gardens of the Moon. If you enjoy A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones) and The Lord of the Rings then you'll enjoy Gardens of the Moon.

First few chapters look promising, thanks for the tip. Too bad most of these 'high fantasy epics' are set in medieval-ish times, I'd love to read one set in a sci-fi setting. Anyone any suggestions?

About the number of books a year... It varies. If I have good books at the ready I usually read a 800-pager a week, If there are no family visits or special occasions I read 2 a week.
Note that I am still studying (at a slow pace) and have LOADS of time. I am very aware of this advantageous positions and am attempting to make full use of that.

I just finished all 7 of the Temeraire books. So much for trying to expand my horizons! They were pretty fun though, the basic concept being "What if they had dragons during the napoleonic wars" I read each one in about a day, and they're worth reading if you're bored and need something mindlessly fun.